Deuteronomy 24:10–17

People took articles as security for loans and similar deals from very early times. God's law set restrictions on the practice, so that no one could take unfair advantage through it.

If one loaned money to another, he must not enter the house of his debtor to take a pledge of repayment, but allow the debtor to bring this out to him. The reason is evident, for the creditor might see something in the house that he would prefer to have and demand this as a pledge. […] But this law would protect the debtor from the tyranny of his creditor.

The pledge is again limited: the creditor must not intrude upon the debtor's house for it.

The law of verse 6 also is one of consideration for people's need. […] But the creditor must not take the upper or lower millstone of the other as a pledge, for this would deprive the debtor of the means of doing his normal work. In fact, this would hinder his ability to repay his debt, as the creditor should realize, but worse than this, it would be disobedience to God.

The spirit of all these ordinances is very instructive. So is the goodness and tenderness of God, who stoops to take notice of all these things. He teaches His people delicacy, propriety, consideration for others, and sensitivity. These feelings remove brutality and soften the hardness of man's heart. They shape his ways according to that love which the Spirit of God clothes Himself with when He acts in the heart of man. […] But the law of God assigns limits and conditions. These keep in check the wickedness of that will which hardens itself while it oppresses others.

Again we find in the rest of Deuteronomy 24, as well as in Deuteronomy 25, many precepts of mercy and goodness towards the people, even in the most ordinary matters of household life. […] The Lord finds His own interest in all the belongings of His people. He would train them up in His own nurture and admonition — an important point for us to consider in good time.

God's laws were not arbitrary demands. They were for the greatest good of His people Israel, whether they realized it or not.

Christians too should consider it wise not to charge interest to another Christian or to a close relative if lending to them because of a need. Business practices such as mortgages are of a different character, of course. But the Lord takes account of the unselfish treatment we show toward others, and will repay this in His own way.

Are you dealing in grace with your enemies and those who are in your debt? Are you demanding your rights? Are you, in principle, taking your fellow by the throat and saying, "Pay me what you owe"? If so, you are not "perfect as your Father." He is dealing in grace, and you are dealing in righteousness.

People took articles as security for loans and similar debts from very early times. The law gave restrictions so that no one could take unfair advantage through it. Exodus 22:26; Deuteronomy 24:10-17; Job 22:6; Job 24:3, 9; Amos 2:8.

If one man loaned money to another, he must not enter the house of his debtor to take a pledge of repayment. He must let the debtor bring it out to him. The reason is obvious. The creditor might see something in the house that he would prefer to have, and demand it as a pledge. If the debtor brought out a pledge that was fair, the creditor could of course refuse it and ask for a fairer one. But this law would protect the debtor from the tyranny of his creditor.

These two laws look once more at the poor, whether as debtor or as creditor. First, the pledge is again limited. The creditor must not intrude into the debtor's house to get it. And if it is something the debtor can spare only for the day, he must return it by nightfall. On the other hand, no one must hold back the labourer's wages, or he will cry to the Lord about it, and the Lord will treat it as sin.

The spirit of all these ordinances is very instructive. So is the goodness and tenderness of God, who stoops to take notice of all these things. He teaches His people sensitivity, decency, consideration for others, and tender feeling. Such feelings remove brutality and soften the hardness of man's heart. They shape his ways according to that love which the Spirit of God puts on when He works in the human heart.

Again, in the rest of Deuteronomy 24 and in Deuteronomy 25, we find many rules of mercy and goodness toward the people, even in the most ordinary matters of household life. They cover not only the wife, but one's fellows, servants too, strangers, harvests and vineyards, down to the care of the cattle. The poor man who was at fault and got a beating was not forgotten. The punishment must not go past a set measure, and nothing must make one's brother despised. A beating may be due and needed. But nothing must destroy respect. Jehovah finds His own interest in all the belongings of His people. He would bring them up with His own care and correction. That is an important point for us to consider early.

The laws found in verses 10-15 are merciful ones. If people obeyed these laws, they would settle so many questions and end so much injustice. See also James 5:4. They were to show mercy to the poor, remembering their own former condition in Egypt.

The other main garment was the simlah, a cloak or wide outer mantle, worn by men and women, and the one they wrapped themselves in at night. It might be of any material, depending on the season and on the wearer's position in life. If someone took this garment in pledge, he had to return it in the evening, for without it "in what else shall he sleep?"

The sun has gone down. The chill of midnight creeps over his sleeping form, his needed rest is disturbed, and his health is endangered. His skin needs a covering and warmth from outside. Now where can he find this if the garment is pledged and kept? Nowhere.

The pledge is again limited: the creditor must not force his way into the debtor's house to get it. And if it is something the debtor can spare only for the day, the creditor must return it by nightfall.

If a borrower gave his garment as security, the lender must not keep it even overnight. My righteous demands must in no way take priority over proper compassion.

Giving the pledge back for the night was proper consideration, and by it the friendship of another is gained.

Giving to the poor was a righteous thing to do, and so it is called righteousness. The law made provision for the poor. It says that there would always be poor people in the land. If no one relieved them and they cried to the Lord, it would be counted a sin against those who should have helped them.

"Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD," as He is pleased to count it, "and he will repay him for his deed." What security can match this? Think too of the honour of being creditor to Him!

"And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well." Here we see that the Lord does not allow different rules for public life and for private life. The law forbade keeping a poor debtor's cloak overnight as a pledge. The debtor had to get his cloak back so that he might have a covering for the night (Ex. 22:26; Deut. 24:12–13). This is probably what the Lord Jesus was referring to. He tells His disciples not to resist, and to give even more than what is demanded. This is grace.

Touches like this remind us how detailed God's regard is. They show how deep His gracious consideration is for the small things of our life.

These hired servants were different from the house servants, who were generally slaves. An employer took on a hired servant by the day and paid him at the close of the day. A servant hired by the priest did not count as one of the family and could not eat the holy things. The slaves, by contrast, did count as part of the family.

No one was to oppress a hired servant, whether an Israelite or a Gentile. If he was poor, he should get his wages every day (vv. 14-15). This is only right, for when the work is done, the pay is due. The New Testament tells masters to treat their servants "justly and fairly" (Colossians 4:1).

"You shall not oppress your neighbour or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning." What tender care is here! The High and Mighty One who lives in eternity can notice the thoughts and feelings that rise in the heart of a poor labourer. He knows and takes into account what such a man expects from the fruit of his day's work. Of course he looks for his wages. The labourer's heart counts on them; the family meal depends on them. Oh, do not hold them back! Do not send the labourer home with a heavy heart, to make the heart of his wife and children heavy too.

They are charged with deliberate cruelty and fraud in their dealings with the labourers who reaped their fields. Their very wealth tempts the rich to hold back wages from the poor. Only their own affairs matter to them. They put off the claims of people who live from hand to mouth until it suits them. But the debt cries aloud to Him who always feels for the poor, as the One who alone made Him fully known has shown. Yes, the cries of the reapers may never have reached the rich. But they entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts, and His blow would fall when least expected.

He denounces oppression of one's neighbour, even if it is only delaying for a single night to pay what was due to a poor labourer. Wealthy Jews were guilty in this way; is it confined to men of Israel? Employers often hire in a hard spirit that grinds down the poor. Some masters give generously to so-called Christian or charitable causes what they have wrung out of tears and curses. That makes no amends; in God's eyes it makes the wrong worse. And what has trade or commerce to answer for in the oppressive desire to grow rich?

Remembering the Lord's grace in redeeming them out of Egypt was to be the constant, all-powerful driving force behind how they treated the poor brother. This principle never fails, and nothing lower than this will ever hold up. We can only keep up a course of real, active kindness, whether towards our brothers or those outside, by keeping one thing before our hearts. That is the marvellous grace of God shown to us in the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Mere kindly feelings bubbling up in our own hearts, or drawn out by the sorrows and needs of others, will prove short-lived.

Hired men were different from the house servants, who were generally slaves. An employer took them on by the day and paid them at the end of the day. A priest's hired servant did not count as one of the family and could not eat the holy food. The slaves did count as part of the family.

What tender care is here! The High and Mighty One who inhabits eternity can take notice of the thoughts and feelings that spring up in the heart of a poor labourer. He knows and takes into account what such a man expects from the fruit of his day's toil. Of course he will look for those wages. The labourer's heart counts on them; the family meal depends on them. Oh, do not hold them back. Do not send the labourer home with a heavy heart, to make the heart of his wife and family heavy too. By all means give him what he has worked for, what he has a right to, and what his heart is set on. He is a husband. He is a father. He has carried the burden and heat of the day so that his wife and children will not go hungry to bed.

On the other hand, the labourer's hire must not be kept back, in case he cries to the Lord about it, and the Lord visits it as sin.

They are charged with wanton cruelty and fraud in their dealings with the labourers who reaped their fields. Their very wealth tempts the rich to withhold payment of wages from the poor. Only their own affairs matter in their eyes. They put off the claims of those who live from hand to mouth until a convenient time. But the debt cries aloud to Him who always feels for the poor... The cries of the reapers may never have reached the rich. But they entered the ears of the Lord of hosts, and His blow would fall when least expected.

The employment of labour is often carried on in a hard spirit, grinding the faces of the poor. Masters may give generously to so-called Christian or charitable causes out of money squeezed from tears and curses. In God's eyes that makes up for nothing; it only makes the wrong worse. And how much does trade or commerce have to answer for in the oppressive desire to grow rich?

For masters, the leading thought is not love but righteousness. Every Christian master should be continually asking himself about his servants, "What is just? What is fair?" And he is to remember that he too is a servant, with his own Master in the heavens. That Master has laid it down: "with the measure you use it will be measured to you."

Next comes the ban on twisting justice — again two laws. First, the father must not suffer death for the children, nor the children for the fathers, which was common among the nations around them. Second, there must be no oppression of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Their own Redeemer, who brought them out of the oppression of Egypt, told them to keep this.

When the Gibeonites demanded seven of Saul's sons, to be hanged before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, he still answers, "I will give them." There is no sign that he asked God again about the matter. He needed no fresh word to refuse what the Gibeonites asked. Israel's book of law had already said it plainly: "Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin."

"But he did not put to death the children of the murderers, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses... 'Each one shall die for his own sin.'" There again, Amaziah shows an intelligent respect for the Word of God. This commandment of the Lord had been given in Deuteronomy 24:16, and Amaziah governed himself by it with the obedient heart required of all those who hear and read His Word.

God is showing how He deals with men on earth in His holy government. When it comes to His judgment for eternity, He will judge the dead "according to their works" (Revelation 20:12-13) and there is no thought of a child bearing the sin of his father. In the working out of God's government in this world, the way a father's sin harms his children is a fact too obvious for any of us to overlook.

He has Himself assured us that He visits "the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation." But then He adds a much needed safeguard against being misread: "of those who hate Me."

"The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son..." The wicked father must perish; the son warned by it shall live. So the way is clear for the maxim — the soul who sins shall die — neither the son suffering for his father's wrong nor the father for his son's, but each reaping what he had sown.

The law of holiness and truth is that the soul who sins shall die. Death, then, is God's just appointment to man, because he is a sinner. Man dies only because of sin... It is clear that no sinful man could die for the sin of another, because he must die for himself. The Son of God, on whom death had no claim (because He knew no sin), was able to die for others.

One may be in a position to take unfair advantage of a stranger or of a fatherless child. But such perversion of justice was sternly forbidden (v.17). Also forbidden was taking a widow's garment as a pledge for debt. For Israel was to remember that they too at one time were in a place of slavery in Egypt, reduced to poverty.

People took items as security for loans from very early times. The law set limits on this, so that no one could use it to take unfair advantage. Exodus 22:26; Deuteronomy 24:10-17; Amos 2:8.

These verses protect the rights of those who count for least and can defend themselves least — strangers, widows, the fatherless and the poor. The tendency of fallen mankind is to take advantage of these, oppressing and defrauding them. Such conduct is hateful to God, and His kindness shines out even as He gives His law. He will be their Defender. As He thinks of them His word is, "I am gracious."

The helpless are next commended to their hearts. Of all the helpless ones who appeal to our compassion, the widow and the fatherless surely have the first claim. God surrounds them here with the powerful defence of His own arm... All through Scripture God marks out these two groups as the special object of His care. So they should be objects of our compassionate concern too. James says accordingly, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." (James 1:27)

They were to remember the Lord's grace in redeeming them out of Egypt. That memory was to be the constant, all-powerful motive behind their actions toward the poor brother. This is a principle that never fails; and nothing lower than this will ever stand. Look for motives anywhere but in God Himself and in His dealings with us, and we shall soon break down in daily life. One thing alone will keep us in a course of true, active kindness. We must keep before our hearts the marvellous grace of God shown to us in the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Merely kind feelings bubbling up in our own hearts, or drawn out by the sorrows and distresses of others, will prove short-lived.

They were to keep the divine model before their eyes. They were also to remember their own past history and experience. Then their hearts would be drawn out in sympathy and compassion toward the poor homeless stranger. It was the binding duty and high privilege of the Israel of God to stand where others stood and feel what they felt. They were to be the moral representatives of that blessed One. They were His people, and they bore His Name. They were to imitate Him in meeting the wants and gladdening the hearts of the fatherless, the widow, and the stranger.

God showed His gracious care for the oppressed, and Israel had to remember that they themselves had been in the land of Egypt. We too who are Christians must remember that we were once in the bondage of sin before being saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus. If so, we shall care about those who have never been set free from the poverty of their sinful state. We should gladly give up something of our own prosperity for their sakes.